Budget buster -- carpenter ants.

[Minnie_me]

I'm so incredibly bummed. Just starting to really put aside some $$ in savings for the first time since my husband left 18 months ago, and I was sooooo proud of myself.

Now I have carpenter ants. I'm not sure how to get rid of them, but I'm going to call an exterminator tomorrow.

Any homegrown methods that might work before I overpay this guy?

 

[abbyndrewmom]

google it and see what comes up!

 

[cmjaffe]

we swear by Terro... used to use exterminator and then he retired... got bags of terro from Lowes and also got the liquid traps... worked well AND didn't break the bank. One year we had to have the exterminator come 3 times in a summer.... didn't know about Terro then... give it a try BEFORE you part with your $$$

 

[foltzy]

We have the exterminator over twice a year and pay $40 for him to spray around the house, the two sheds and the two big trees that we believe the carpenter ants were coming from. We haven't had any in the 3 years he's been coming out. Yeah a bit more than I want to spend but DH and I figure it's money well spent.

 

[DisneygirlTeacher]

I kept seeing them several years ago by a top kitchen cabinet. Couldn't get rid of them. My neighbor had an exterminator over one day, so I went over and described them and where I saw them and asked what I should do (without calling him...lol) He was very nice and said since I saw them only by that one cabinet to empty it out totally. Then he told me to look for a little nest they make using lint, dust and other fuzzy unknow things. Sure enough, right in the back of that cabinet was what looked like a ball of fuzz. I scooped it out and I have never, ever seen another one in my house. Yay! It's been 5 or 6 years ago now. Good Luck!

 

[cglaura]

Carpenter ants usually feed on rotting wood, so it is going to be a combo effort.

You have to exterminate and fix the wood, otherwise they will keep coming back (not to mention, rotting wood is an attraction for termites and other things too.)

Here is a good page. WARNING...don't look if images of insects wig you out

http://lancaster.unl.edu/pest/resources/carpant004.shtml


Hopefully you caught them in time that the damage is minimal...which will save you tons down the road.